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Hi I'm Benson Merrill

I was born and raised near Dallas, Texas. I love to run & play sports. I love my friends, my family, and the Gospel! I'm a Mormon.

About Me

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I am the youngest of five childeren. I was born and raised in Texas. During high school, I ran cross country and track, and I was also part of several honor societies. I am also a national merit scholar. I was accepted into Brigham Young University (BYU) where I attended school during the summer of 2015. I was recently called to serve in the England London Mission where will preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for two years starting in October 2015. When I am done, I will return to BYU. I am still undecided on what I will study. I like to play raquetball and ultimate frisbee, run, and I love hanging out with my friends!

Why I am a Mormon

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Although I was born a member of this church, I didn't always hold a firm belief of its doctrines. I believed in God and had faith in the Atonement, but I wasn't always sure of what that meant for me personally. I really didn't even decide that I wanted to serve a mission until I was 16. During my junior year I had the opportunity to teach one of my cross country friends with the missionaries. He took the lessons well and accepted the challenge to both read the Book of Mormon and to be baptized into the church. I had the privilege of baptizing him. When I went into the water with him, I felt a sort of rush that I can't really describe. I've never felt the Spirit more strongly than when I baptized my friend. I'm grateful that I had the Spirit with me during that time so that I was able to teach and bear witness of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Since then, I have strived to do whatever it takes to keep that same spirit with me so that I can have that same opportunity to bear witness and hopefully bring more souls to the knowledge of their Redeemer. Having good friends who share my values and interests has helped immensely as well. Not surprisingly, most of them are on missions right now or are preparing to serve missions. I testify that Christ is our Redeemer and that only through His Atonement can mankind be saved from sin and from the perils of our world. I testify that God restored His church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through the prophet Joseph Smith. I testify that God has called prophets and apostles in our time to speak to the world for Him, and that His Priesthood is once again in place on the earth today.

How I live my faith

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As a youth, I had the opportunity to serve in various roles in my ward (congregation). I was a part of several class presidencies, and I was recently released as first assistant to the bishop in my priests quorum (group of 16-18 year old boys). During my junior year, I also had the opportunity to serve on a stake youth committee tasked with planning, organizing, and putting on a youth conference for the youth in our stake, as well as planning dances and service projects. For our youth conference, we put the youth in companionships and had them practice teaching a simple message about Christ to friends of various members in our stake. Along with introducing me to some of my closest friends, this committee gave the opportunity to serve and work with the youth in my stake, as well as work with members in a missionary capacity. I look forward to working with the youth and adult members as well during my mission.

This biologist uses the scientific method every day in his professional life, but in his personal life, Kevin Livingstone relies on a different set of tools for answering big questions about life on earth.